Uncovering the Influence of the Political Economy on Mass Media: A Study of Manufacturing Consent

RamV: There is no better time to read this book than now amidst the two ongoing wars to understand how our media distorts reality and toes the line of those who control them. Among the many distortions are how it reacts to and portrays terrible acts by our allies and client states as opposed to those we are inimical towards, as also how certain lives are considered 'not worthy;' in fact, there is a quote of Madeline Albright below.
Lesley Stahl: We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price—we think the price is worth it.
History repeats itself, only the actors change! But the 'think tank' - cesspool? - is the same in the recent repetition.

United States on Dec 09, 2023

Adri Verdini: Adoro Chomsky e questo libro è una lettura imprescindibile per comprendere le dinamiche della nostra società sempre più interconnessa e svilita da politiche eticamente scorrette.

Italy on Nov 15, 2023

Amazon Customer: I've heard videos of Chomsky, and over time I've come to understand the nature of propaganda in a lot of ways. Watching the disintegration of Indian TV media over the last decade has been eye opening and it's led me to try and understand this better. Today when there seems to be a new disinformation war between superpowers, it's a reason to read and reread this book. The systems of power haven't changed much.

India on May 29, 2021

Bonnie Botham: Enjoyed and relieved item came so quickly in pristine condition and packaging was optimal. Gift recipient was very pleased with item. Thank you!

Canada on Dec 27, 2020

OrlandoF: Esse livro deve ser lido por todos os que desejam compreender como a mídia exerce um papel importante na dominação em favor dos grupos econômico-financeiros. Essa edição (2002) do livro original (1988) conta com uma nova "Introdução" em que traz novas referências acerca do tema.

Brazil on Aug 02, 2020

Omar Cornejo: Read only if you're ready. Do you think the term "fake news" holds some truth?
As always, Chomsky lays down the facts. Current news corporations serve as nothing more than propaganda for those in power.

Mexico on Feb 02, 2020

K. Johnson: In "Manufacturing Consent" there are too many concepts to list in this critical and influential work by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. Anyone who receives information from any form of media should read this book. If you're curious and/or question the information that you're bombarded with every single day and night of your life, check out "Manufacturing Consent."

So many questions, and more importantly so many answers, supported by data. Backed by facts. Who decides and chooses what we read and don't read? What we see and don't see? What we hear and don't hear? The power of the media and its influence often stems from not only what is reported but what is *not* reported. This, is power. And, who actually owns the major media conglomerates?

What we, the common people, discuss over a cup of coffee or beer at the dinner table is spoon-fed to us. The "topics of the day," week, or year, are handed to us on a dish. And naively, we eat what's on the plate.

This book is one of Chomsky's most influential and heuristic books. And, there is a reason why Noam Chomsky is blacklisted from the (MSM) mainstream media in the United States, while being the 8th most cited...

United States on May 27, 2010

HCE: "They who have put out the people's eyes reproach them of their blindness."
(John Milton; from epigraph to Manufacturing Consent).

In 1917, Woodrow Wilson established an independent agency, known variously as the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and the Creel Committee, whose purpose was to control public opinion in the US with an eye towards generating support for the war effort in general and cultivating a deep seated and abiding hatred of everything German in particular. Further, this bias propagating "machine" did not scruple to arouse fear and hatred of German-Americans as well--that was then manifest by the public at large--so effective was it at compelling prejudice via a calculated use of various media, including print and film.

And, although the CPI had been dissolved within two years, the all-important lesson of methodological mind control of the masses was not lost upon those facilitators of media propaganda Wilson had employed, most famously Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays. Lippmann was to develop his ideas related to the establishing of opinion within the rank and file, which collective he deemed to be inherently deficient in participating in...

United States on Oct 10, 2009